Arduino Servo Tutorial Part 2: Supercharging your Servo!

This video, part 2 of our Arduino servo tutorial, shows how to use a potetiometer to control a servo, how to use an external power supply such as a battery to power a servo, and how to make the servo extra responsive

A basic tutorial on how to connect a hobby servo to an Arduino and then how to use a FlexiForce Pressure Sensor to have the servo move based on pressure applied to the sensor! Tutorial done with parts purchased from Adafruit and SparkFun.

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[aneeshabraham]

Hello,
I see that your external power source is about 12V with 7Ah.
But the servos operating voltage is 4.8V/6.0V. I thought 12V will fry the servo?

[Origamity]

Hi ! nice work !, one question: 12v on Hitec HS-311(4.8V/6.0V)???

[adisharr]

I would make sure you know what you're doing before you work with mains voltages. Look into linear power supply tutorials and that will shed some light on power conversion.

Generally in a simple power supply, there's a step down transformer that will take a high AC voltage and convert it to a lower voltage (still AC). This will then run through a rectifier (usually full wave) that will converter the AC voltage to oscillating DC. This is then smoothed or filtered by a capacitor.

[ChrisUhlik]

Ah, thanks. These servos do take an analog pulse width where 0.5msec wide pulse = -180degrees, 1.5msec pulse = 0degrees, and 2.5msec pulse = 180degrees. I guess the servo.write() library call does the translation from degrees to this standardized pulse width. sparkfun dot com/tutorials/283

[ChrisUhlik]

Does the servo take a serial data input command "number of degrees" rather than a PWM `analog' input command? Can you give us an example part number for a servo like this? Thanks again for the great video!

[ChrisUhlik]

Nicely done! How does the servo.write() value 0..179 turn into servo degrees? Did you do some hidden calibration to figure out what PWM duty cycle corresponds to a particular angle on the servo?

[adisharr]

You want to make sure you observe safety precautions and properly insulate, fuse and ground things. Remember, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing correctly.

[andreim]

I have a question, how many servos can you connect simultaneously on the arduino duelmilanove? Can I conect 6 or 7 servos at once and control them separately? Thanks!

[syncon]

I think you should put a disclaimer somewhere in description that some servos might not like being supplied from 12V and might let the magic smoke out...

[mannymnts]

Tonight is the first time that I watch your videos I'll just begin to work with arduino and it's very usefull for me.

Thank you so much by upload this.

[carlardiente]

what happens when you rotate the pot fully CW(at max resistance)?

[Bille]

I was wondering what would happen if there isn't a common ground?

[bhupsrose]

Any idea if Arduino can be used to control a 24V DC motor...

[Eugensdiet]

Thanks for these two videos. I'm still learning arduino (C) but your presentation makes a lot of sense and has promoted a positive sense of potential success.

[austin]

you do some good work hope your shop is doing well

[squeakuk]

could several servos ( 3-4 max), obviously on a separate supply like you did, all be sent a signal on one digital-write pin? i have a project with at least 24 servos, ( 12 x 2 sides,   ) would this work or would i need a pin per servo? all need to run at the same time to various angles (in pairs )

or would i need another arduino and hook the two together?

[modellbahnco.]

hey,
it's a great helpful video. but i have one question:
do i have to connect the black cable of the Servo to the Arduino-GND and to the Power-Supply-Mass if I use a 5v Powersupply? because i want to use one 5A power supply for many servos which are conected to different Arduinos.

Max (form Germany)

[Tonyginx]

Hi John I like your videos they are very intelligently informative, from what authentic website can I download the arduino software?

[ankitbaraili]

what happens if I connect this battery to a grbl shield in cnc

[MikaelMurstam]

So how do I know what delay to use, and what happens if it is not right? thanks.